Giants Face Massive Divisional Series Test This Week Coming Off Brutal Sweep

The San Francisco Giants have sputtered a bit over the last couple of weeks, winning just five of their last 12 tilts with three of those five victories coming against the historically awful Colorado Rockies.

Headed into the week coming off the roughest series yet, the Giants will try to bounce back from a sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins in the first of a nine-game homestand.

Coming to the San Francisco to face the Giants starting on Monday night is a divisional opponent who has been playing some average baseball, but still presents a unique challenge in the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks have not won or lost more than two in a row in weeks and have alternated wins and losses in each of the last eight, entering the series one game above .500.

Facing a difficult schedule, however, Arizona has done a nice job keeping their heads afloat and now will like to strike against an ice-cold San Francisco team.

Who is Pitching for Each Team in the Series?

The first game -- taking place at Oracle Park at 6:45 p.m. PT -- puts right-hander Merrill Kelly on the mound for the Diamondbacks against Justin Verlander for the Giants

Kelly is 3-2 in his eight starts, pitching to a solid but unremarkable 4.09 ERA and an impressive 1.045 WHIP. Verlander, meanwhile, is still seeking his first win of the year with his new team, dropping his ERA to a 4.50 after what was a very rough start.

The second game will begin at the same time as the first and will feature Brandon Pfaadt for Arizona, who is tied for the most wins in the Major Leagues with six, against the surprise of San Francisco's rotation, Robbie Ray.

Pfaadt has a 3.28 ERA and 1.221 WHIP while Ray is 5-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.195 WHIP, finally performing like the second ace the Giants hoped they were getting when they traded for him and his contract.

The final game of the series before an off day on Thursday is a matinee showing at 12:45 p.m. PT between two struggling pitchers -- Eduardo Rodriguez for the Diamondbacks and Jordan Hicks for San Francisco.

Rodriguez has posted a 6.86 ERA and 1.672 WHIP while Hicks is continuing to try to make the transition from reliever to starter with an ERA of 5.82 and WHIP of 1.408.

The Giants get the benefit of the schedule works by not having to face either of Arizona's aces in Zac Gallen or Corbin Burnes, although the Diamondbacks also miss out on Logan Webb.

Currently sitting three games ahead of Arizona, it's an opportunity for San Francisco to create some distance from the bottom half of the division. However, the Diamondbacks are also salivating at the chance to climb the ladder.

It should be a tremendous battle in the Bay Area getting started on Monday night.

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